Seasonal availability of floral resources and ambient temperature shape stingless bee foraging behavior (Scaptotrigona aff. depilis)

International audienceAbstractThe foraging success of a bee species is related to a combination of climatic factors and resource availability. Here, we analyzed how food storage by the stingless bee Scaptotrigona aff. depilis relates to the seasonal variation in floral resources availability in a tropical environment with two well-defined seasons. We found a positive relationship between the amount of food stored and resource availability, suggesting that colonies intensify food collection in the season with higher food availability (rainy season). This ensures the perennial state of stingless bee colonies during the dry season (food scarcity and lower ambient temperatures). Bees collected pollen from at least 60 plant species, but food pots were dominated by just nine plants. Additionally, S. aff depilis attempted to unevenly use the plant species for food storage in the rainy season, which indicates that the colonies maximize their food intake as soon as resources are available

Pollen Collected and Foraging Activities of Frieseomelitta varia (Lepeletier) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in an Urban Landscape

Cities provide resources for animal species that live within them or inhabit their surroundings. This has motivated an increase in ecological studies of urban areas, including the interactions between plants and pollinators. From March 2010 to February 2011, the flowering plants present in the study area, located at the Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, were sampled to evaluate how floral sources were distributed throughout the year. Concurrently, worker bees with pollen loads were collected from four colonies of Frieseomelitta varia (Lepeletier, 1836) to identify the sources used by bees. Despite an increase in plant species abundance in July, plants were in bloom year-round and consequently, the production and supply of floral resources were continuous. The workers collected resources from 77 plant species, but only three were extensively exploited. Delonix regia (Leguminosae), Poincianella pluviosa (Leguminosae) and Ceiba speciosa (Malvaceae) accounted for 42% of total pollen grains quantified during the year, showing that F. varia intensify pollen collection at few sources at spatiotemporal scale. This study emphasizes the importance of native urban flora to maintain F. varia and other bee species. The list of plants presented in this study can be used in the design and planning of urban areas

Data standardization of plant–pollinator interactions

Background: Animal pollination is an important ecosystem function and service, ensuring both the integrity of natural systems and human well-being. Although many knowledge shortfalls remain, some high-quality data sets on biological interactions are now available. The development and adoption of standards for biodiversity data and metadata has promoted great advances in biological data sharing and aggregation, supporting large-scale studies and science-based public policies. However, these standards are currently not suitable to fully support interaction data sharing. Results: Here we present a vocabulary of terms and a data model for sharing plant–pollinator interactions data based on the Darwin Core standard. The vocabulary introduces 48 new terms targeting several aspects of plant–pollinator interactions and can be used to capture information from different approaches and scales. Additionally, we provide solutions for data serialization using RDF, XML, and DwC-Archives and recommendations of existing controlled vocabularies for some of the terms. Our contribution supports open access to standardized data on plant–pollinator interactions. Conclusions: The adoption of the vocabulary would facilitate data sharing to support studies ranging from the spatial and temporal distribution of interactions to the taxonomic, phenological, functional, and phylogenetic aspects of plant–pollinator interactions. We expect to fill data and knowledge gaps, thus further enabling scientific research on the ecology and evolution of plant–pollinator communities, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the development of public policies. The proposed data model is flexible and can be adapted for sharing other types of interactions data by developing discipline-specific vocabularies of termsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Seasonality in food availability and foraging dynamics in Scaptotrigona aff. depilis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini).

Estudos sobre a influência da variação sazonal na disponibilidade de recursos florais na coleta de pólen e néctar pelas abelhas sem ferrão são escassos na literatura devido à ausência de métodos viáveis de se quantificar o alimento armazenado nas colônias por longos períodos. O objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar o armazenamento de alimento em colônias de Scaptotrigona aff. depilis em relação a distribuição espaçotemporal dos recursos florais em uma área urbanizada na região tropical, bem como estratégias utilizadas pelas colônias no período de menor disponibilidade alimentar. De abril de 2011 a março de 2012, a estrutura da comunidade vegetal do campus da Universidade de São Paulo, cidade de Ribeirão Preto, foi avaliada sob os aspectos da composição florística e fenologia de floração para avaliar a ocorrência de sazonalidade na distribuição dos recursos florais disponibilizados para as abelhas. Concomitantemente, foi analisado qualitativamente e quantitativamente o armazenamento mensal de pólen e néctar em colônias experimentais (CEs) de S. aff. depilis, formadas a partir da remoção de colônias mães (CMs) de seus lugares originais e substituídas por caixas de madeira vazias, as CEs, em cujas as forrageiras armazenaram o alimento durante sete dias. No mesmo período de um ano, foi avaliada a produção mensal de cria nas CMs de S. aff. depilis por meio de fotografias tomadas na região da cria em intervalos de 24h durante quatro dias consecutivos. Espécies melitófilas floresceram durante o ano todo e, consequentemente, a disponibilidade de alimento para as abelhas foi contínua. A distribuição dos recursos foi sazonal, com abundância de disponibilidade na transição da estação seca com a chuvosa e na estação chuvosa. O armazenamento de alimento foi afetado pela associação entre a sazonalidade na disponibilidade de pólen e a temperatura ambiente. O pólen foi armazenado ao longo de todo o ano, ao passo que o néctar começou a ser armazenado no final da estação seca e permaneceu durante toda a estação chuvosa. Nas CEs, a maior quantidade de alimento foi armazenada na estação chuvosa, com pico no bimestre de fevereiro-março. Mesmo apresentando um hábito generalista, as forrageiras de S. aff. depilis intensificaram, espacial e temporalmente, a coleta de recursos em poucas fontes florais. As espécies Eucalyptus moluccana, E. grandis e Myracrodruon urundeuva foram preferencialmente utilizadas no armazenamento de pólen durante a estação seca, ao passo que durante a estação chuvosa apenas Schinus terebinthifolius foi a fonte preferencialmente utilizada. A sazonalidade na disponibilidade de pólen influenciou inclusive a produção de cria, a qual diminuiu na estação seca. A disponibilidade de pólen parece ser um fator central influenciando no crescimento e no desenvolvimento das colônias de S. aff. depilis.Studies on the influence of seasonal variation in the availability of floral resources on the collection of pollen and nectar by stingless bees are scarce due to lack of methods to quantify the stored food in the colonies for long periods of time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the storage of food in colonies of Scaptotrigona aff. depilis in relation to the spatiotemporal distribution of floral resources in an urbanized area in the tropical region, as well as assess the strategies used by the colonies during periods of food scarcity. From April 2011 to March 2012, the plant community structure in the campus of Universidade de São Paulo, located in the city of Ribeirão Preto, was studied under the aspect of floristic composition and flowering phenology to evaluate the occurrence of seasonality in the distribution of floral resources available to bees. Concurrently, it was analyzed the monthly storage of pollen and nectar in experimental colonies (ECs) of S. aff. depilis formed from removal of colonies (MCs) from their original places and replaced by empty wooden boxes, the ECs, whose foragers stored food for seven days. In the same period of an year, it was evaluated the monthly brood production in MCs of S. aff. depilis through photographs taken in the brood region at intervals of 24h for four consecutive days. Melittophilous were in bloom year-round, and therefore the availability of food resources was continuous for bees. The resource distribution was seasonal, with plenty of available resources in the transition from the dry to the rainy season and in the rainy season. The storage of food was affected by the association between the seasonal availability of pollen and ambient temperature. Pollen was stored throughout the year, while the nectar started to be stored in the dry season and remained throughout the rainy season. In ECs, the largest amount of food was stored during the rainy season, peaking in February-March. Even though foragers display a generalist habit, food collection was intensified at few sources in spatiotemporal scale. The species Eucalyptus moluccana, E. grandis and Myracrodruon urundeuva were preferentially used in the storage of pollen during the dry season, while Schinus terebinthifolius was the most frequently used species during the rainy season. Seasonality in pollen availability also influenced brood production, which decreased in the dry season. The availability of pollen seems to be a central parameter influencing the growth and development of S. aff. depilis colonies

Foraging of Scaptotrigona aff. depilis (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in an Urbanized Area: Seasonality in Resource Availability and Visited Plants

The floral sources used by bees can be identified by analyzing pollen grains obtained from their bodies, feces, brood cells, or storage pots in the nests. In addition to data on resource availability, this information enables the investigation on the selection of food resource by bees. We assessed the foraging patterns of Scaptotrigona aff. depilis in an urbanized area with seasonal availability of food resources. The species visited a percentage of 36.60% of the available flora, suggesting that these bees are selective at spatiotemporal scale. When many types of resources were available, the workers concentrated their collection activities on a limited group of sources. In contrast, more plant species were exploited during periods of lower number of flowering plants. A monthly analysis of the foraging patterns of the studied colonies revealed that Syzygium cumini (88.86%), Mimosa sp.1 (80.23%), Schinus terebinthifolius (63.36%), and Eucalyptus citriodora (61.75%) were the most frequently used species and are therefore important for maintaining S. aff. depilis at the study area. These plants are close to the colonies and exhibit mass flowering. This study is one of few works to quantify natural resource availability and to analyze the effects of flowering seasonality on the selection of food sources by bees

Núcleos de Ensino da Unesp: artigos 2008

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq